Freddie Eldon Kaydahzinne
November 8, 1949 — December 2, 2020
The late Freddie Kaydahzinne was born in Mescalero, NM and was raised there. On his father’s side he is the great-great grandson of the famous Chiricahua leader Cochise through his daughter Des-den-zhoos who married the warrior, Kay-dah-zinne. On his mother’s side Freddie descends from the warrior Chatto and his wife Helen, whom he lived with and learned from while growing up.
Freddie was curator of the Mescalero Apache Culture Center and was respected for his numerous tribal accomplishments and traditional teachings. He was an amazing singer and recorded several CD’s of traditional and original songs.
Ndé Bikéeyá is honored to use Freddie’s, The Cricket Song, on our website. His family and producer have made that possible. According to Freddie’s wife, “A lot of his songs just came to him and when they did he would want to record it.”
The Cricket Song, sung by Freddie, his son Bo, and the late Sherman Blake, was a “gift Freddie received.” She told us, “We were sitting on our porch one evening and these crickets kept coming and making noises. Fred kinda felt the spirit and he said the sounds made that song.”
